Women’s National Softball Team
Sweeps Exhibition Series

(Brampton, ON) The Canadian Senior Women’s National wrapped up its Exhibition Series with two wins over Puerto Rico in Brampton last night, winning 7-0 and 5-1 in a pair of five inning games. With the two victories, Team Canada swept all seven games played at the Exhibition Series in Southern Ontario, and both Canada and Puerto Rico will now travel to Haarlem, Netherlands for the ISF XIV Women’s World Championship, where they will play each other to open the tournament at 7:30am EDT on August 15.
 
In the first game, Canada got things rolling early by scoring four runs in the bottom of the first inning. Victoria Hayward (Toronto, ON) walked and moved up to second on an infield single by Megan Timpf (Port Dover, ON), and after a strikeout, the next batter grounded out to move both runners ahead to second and third. Carey-Leigh Thomas (Ohsweken, ON) drove them both in with a single to centerfield, followed by a walk on a passed ball to put runners on the corners. The next batter reached on an error by the left fielder which allowed Thomas to score, and Victoria Rumph (Mount Forest, ON) singled to right field to push another run home and give Canada a quick 4-0 lead.
 
In the bottom of the second, Timpf hit a one-out double to left field, advanced to third on a single to centerfield by Jenny Gilbert (Saskatoon, SK) and scored on a single to left by Kaleigh Rafter (Guelph, ON). The following inning, Caitlin Lever (Buffalo, NY) led off with a single to right field, was sacrificed to second by Rumph and to third on a wild pitch before call-up Janet Leung (Mississauga, ON) pushed her in to score on a ground out to shortstop. Canada went on to add another run in the fourth as Timpf walked, advanced to third on a single by Gilbert and scored on a sacrifice fly by Rafter to complete the scoring.
 
Sara Plourde (Fredericton, NB) did a fantastic job of keeping Puerto Rico from threatening, as she allowed only two hits and two walks with three strikeouts in the five inning win in the pitcher’s circle. Timpf and Gilbert each stroked a pair of hits for Canada, with Thomas and Rafter each getting a hit and driving in two, and Lever and Rumph each had run-scoring hits.
 
Box Score: Canada 7 vs. Puerto Rico 0
 
Canada got off to a quick start in the second game as well. In the bottom of the first inning, Timpf hit a one-out single to centerfield and stole second before scoring on a single to center by Gilbert, who moved up to second on the throw to the plate. A single to left field by Rafter moved her up to third, and she scored on a fielder’s choice by Megan Gurski (Dalmeny, SK) to give Canada the 2-0 lead. Puerto Rico cut the lead to one on a run-scoring single by Elicia d’Orazo in the top of the second.
 
After a couple of quick innings, Canada added to its lead with three runs in the bottom of the fourth. Sara Hopwood (Richmond, BC) earned a one-out walk and advanced to second on a single by Lever before scoring on an error, and Larissa Franklin (Maple Ridge, BC) later hit a two-run single centerfield to round out the scoring as Canada went on to win 5-1.
 
Sara Groenewegen (Surrey, BC) started the game in the circle for Canada and allowed one unearned run on two hits and a walk with one strikeout in three innings. Karissa Hovinga (Edmonton, AB) pitched two inning of hitless relief. Rafter had two hits for Canada, while Franklin, Timpf, Gilbert and Lever each registered one.
 
Box Score: Canada 5 vs. Puerto Rico 1